TY - JOUR A1 - Markovic, Danijela A1 - Walz, Ariane A1 - Kärcher, Oskar T1 - Scale effects on the performance of niche-based models of freshwater fish distributions: Local vs. upstream area influences JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Niche-based species distribution models (SDMs) play a central role in studying species response to environmental change. Effective management and conservation plans for freshwater ecosystems require SDMs that accommodate hierarchical catchment ordering and provide clarity on the performance of such models across multiple scales. The scale-dependence components considered here are: (a) environment spatial structure, represented by hierarchical catchment ordering following the Strahler system; (b) analysis grain, that included 1st to 5th order catchments; and (c) response grain, the grain at which species respond most, represented by local and upstream catchment area effects. We used fish occurrence data from the Danube River Basin and various factors representing climate, land cover and anthropogenic pressures. Our results indicate that the choice of response grain local vs. upstream area effects and the choice of analysis grain, only marginally influence the performance of SDMs. Upstream effects tend to better predict fish distributions than corresponding local effects for anthropogenic and land cover factors, in particular for species sensitive to pollution. Key predictors and their relative importance are scale and species dependent. Consequently, choosing proper species dependent spatial scales and factors is imperative for effective river rehabilitation measures. KW - Catchment order KW - Conservation planning KW - Danube KW - Freshwater fish KW - Species distribution modelling KW - Upstream area Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108818 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 411 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kärcher, Oskar A1 - Frank, Karin A1 - Walz, Ariane A1 - Markovic, Danijela T1 - Scale effects on the performance of niche-based models of freshwater fish distributions JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Niche-based species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool in conservation and restoration planning. Given the current threats to freshwater biodiversity, it is of fundamental importance to address scale effects on the performance of niche-based SDMs of freshwater species’ distributions. The scale effects are addressed here in the context of hierarchical catchment ordering, considered as counterpart to coarsening grain-size by increasing grid-cell size. We combine fish occurrence data from the Danube River Basin, the hierarchical catchment ordering and multiple environmental factors representing topographic, climatic and anthropogenic effects to model fish occurrence probability across multiple scales. We focus on 1st to 5th order catchments. The spatial scale (hierarchical catchment order) only marginally influences the mean performance of SDMs, however the uncertainty of the estimates increases with scale. Key predictors and their relative importance are scale and species dependent. Our findings have useful implications for choosing proper species dependent spatial scales for river rehabilitation measures, and for conservation planning in areas where fine grain species data are unavailable. KW - Catchment order KW - Conservation planning KW - Danube KW - Generalized additive models KW - Species distribution modelling Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.05.006 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 405 SP - 33 EP - 42 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Natho, Stephanie A1 - Tschikof, Martin A1 - Bondar-Kunze, Elisabeth A1 - Hein, Thomas T1 - Modeling the effect of enhanced lateral connectivity on nutrient retention capacity in large river floodplains BT - how much connected floodplain do we need? JF - Frontiers in Environmental Science N2 - Floodplains have been degraded in Central Europe for centuries, resulting in less dynamic and less diverse ecosystems than in the past. They provide essential ecosystem services like nutrient retention to improve overall water quality and thus fulfill naturally what EU legislation demands, but this service is impaired by reduced connectivity patterns. Along the second-longest river in Europe, the Danube, restoration measures have been carried out and are planned for the near future in the Austrian Danube Floodplain National Park in accordance with navigation purposes. We investigated nutrient retention capacity in seven currently differently connected side arms and the effects of proposed restoration measures using two complementary modeling approaches. We modeled nutrient retention capacity in two scenarios considering different hydrological conditions, as well as the consequences of planned restoration measures for side arm connectivity. With existing monitoring data on hydrology, nitrate, and total phosphorus concentrations for three side arms, we applied a statistical model and compared these results to a semi-empirical retention model. The latter was originally developed for larger scales, based on transferable causalities of retention processes and set up for this floodplain with publicly available data. Both model outcomes are in a comparable range for NO3-N (77-198 kg ha(-1)yr(-1)) and TP (1.4-5.7 kg ha(-1)yr(-1)) retention and agree in calculating higher retention in floodplains, where reconnection allows more frequent inundation events. However, the differences in the model results are significant for specific aspects especially during high flows, where the semi-empirical model complements the statistical model. On the other hand, the statistical model complements the semi-empirical model when taking into account nutrient retention at times of no connection between the remaining water bodies left in the floodplain. Overall, both models show clearly that nutrient retention in the Danube floodplains can be enhanced by restoring lateral hydrological reconnection and, for all planned measures, a positive effect on the overall water quality of the Danube River is expected. Still, a frequently hydrologically connected stretch of national park is insufficient to improve the water quality of the whole Upper Danube, and more functional floodplains are required. KW - floodplain KW - lateral hydrological connectivity KW - Danube KW - restoration KW - reconnection KW - inundation KW - nutrient retention KW - modeling Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00074 SN - 2296-665X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER -